WEBVTT - AN EXTRAORDINARY COMEBACK: BERNIE KOSAR 0:00:00.480 --> 0:00:03.920 Get ready for a comeback story. It's one you haven't 0:00:03.920 --> 0:00:07.440 heard before because it's unique. It's about a man who 0:00:07.480 --> 0:00:12.240 was in deep trouble physically, psychologically, emotionally, and after years 0:00:12.280 --> 0:00:15.240 of suffering, he found his path back to a healthy, 0:00:15.280 --> 0:00:20.520 fulfilling life only after a near death experience provided an epiphany. 0:00:21.720 --> 0:00:25.720 Bernie Kozar was a beloved NFL veteran, mostly with the Browns. 0:00:25.840 --> 0:00:27.960 He later won a Super Bowl ring with the Cowboys 0:00:28.120 --> 0:00:31.680 and held two passing records, but stood for about three 0:00:31.760 --> 0:00:35.400 decades before they were broken by Tom Brady. Bernie also 0:00:35.520 --> 0:00:39.040 quarterback the Miami Hurricanes to a stunning national championship back 0:00:39.080 --> 0:00:43.199 in eighty three. Now Bernie credits his dramatic return to 0:00:43.240 --> 0:00:47.880 health to a regiment that is holistic, natural, and unconventional. 0:00:48.479 --> 0:00:51.159 None of those methods are endorsed by this podcast, at 0:00:51.159 --> 0:00:54.800 the exclusion of modern medicine, I have not used them. 0:00:54.880 --> 0:00:58.720 If they interest you, the information is easily searched. It 0:00:58.760 --> 0:01:01.640 seems wise to make your health choices based on your 0:01:01.680 --> 0:01:06.520 instincts and people you trust. Bernie is not endorsing any 0:01:06.560 --> 0:01:11.240 companies or products are selling anything except hope, and that 0:01:11.440 --> 0:01:16.000 he says has become a responsibility. So Bernie, I'm so 0:01:16.040 --> 0:01:19.600 grateful for your time and willingness to tell your story. 0:01:19.800 --> 0:01:22.360 We were at a scrimmage University of Miami, your alma mater, 0:01:22.440 --> 0:01:26.000 of course, watching them practice, making small talk as you 0:01:26.040 --> 0:01:28.360 do in a practice. I'm asking you about Tyler Van Dyke, 0:01:28.400 --> 0:01:31.600 the Hurricanes quarterback, and then I stopped and say, hey, so, 0:01:32.400 --> 0:01:34.800 how you doing? Like what you've been up to? And 0:01:34.920 --> 0:01:37.839 little did I know You're gonna tell me this incredible 0:01:37.880 --> 0:01:40.840 comeback story, and that's what we're here to talk about. 0:01:40.920 --> 0:01:44.960 But can you describe the difference between where you are 0:01:45.080 --> 0:01:48.040 now looking and send and so healthy and where you 0:01:48.080 --> 0:01:51.920 were when you began this comeback journey? Well, Chris, great 0:01:51.960 --> 0:01:55.480 to be with you today, and absolutely after you asked 0:01:55.560 --> 0:01:59.639 that that nice question with such genuineness, I'm so happy 0:01:59.760 --> 0:02:02.760 that you actually still consider me friends and you actually 0:02:02.800 --> 0:02:06.320 called me back and stuff because you got way, you 0:02:06.440 --> 0:02:09.200 got a way longer winded answers, and I think you 0:02:09.360 --> 0:02:13.280 envisioned uh envisioned when we talked. We started talking about 0:02:13.280 --> 0:02:16.480 it as we were watching Tyler at the U start 0:02:16.720 --> 0:02:20.040 making making some amazing plays with the coach Cristo bal 0:02:20.080 --> 0:02:22.320 abound there. But I'm so glad that I got that answer. 0:02:22.440 --> 0:02:25.360 I'm so glad the answer was way more involved than 0:02:25.360 --> 0:02:28.200 I thought it was gonna be. Well, you know, thanks, 0:02:28.280 --> 0:02:31.119 And as I as, I'm really getting into the late 0:02:31.200 --> 0:02:34.960 third quarter, early fourth quarter of my life, and you 0:02:35.040 --> 0:02:38.160 kind of reflect back on really where you're at, what 0:02:38.320 --> 0:02:41.679 you've done, UM, and you think back with just as 0:02:41.720 --> 0:02:45.760 a ex football player finance economics major at the University 0:02:45.760 --> 0:02:48.920 of Miami, and you start doing the math on almost 0:02:49.000 --> 0:02:55.680 forty surgeries, probably broken bones, UM, probably over a hundred concussions. 0:02:56.080 --> 0:03:00.320 Started having UH seizures at fourteen and fifteen season years, 0:03:00.560 --> 0:03:02.480 of which the last couple of seizure size in a 0:03:02.560 --> 0:03:07.120 coma for seventy two and ninety six hours. UM, Chris, 0:03:07.160 --> 0:03:09.240 as I punished you on the sidelines of the game, 0:03:09.440 --> 0:03:12.680 and as we were talking, UM, if that would have 0:03:12.720 --> 0:03:15.440 been five years ago when we were talking, I was 0:03:15.800 --> 0:03:19.480 quite a few ho hoes north of three pounds. UM. 0:03:19.639 --> 0:03:26.160 My ability to articulate, enunciate, communicate really any multiple syllable 0:03:26.160 --> 0:03:30.960 words was what was negligible, UM, being almost four four 0:03:31.000 --> 0:03:33.600 and a half years ago to to be diagnosed from 0:03:33.680 --> 0:03:37.440 doctors to say five years left the cognitive brain function 0:03:38.120 --> 0:03:40.800 and to really not even be able to say cognitive 0:03:41.080 --> 0:03:45.040 nor understand what cognitive meant at that moment was what 0:03:45.280 --> 0:03:49.440 was actually pretty scary. And when you're when you're dealing 0:03:49.480 --> 0:03:52.160 with those type of issues and and you're really trying 0:03:52.160 --> 0:03:55.560 to get yourself out of it, UM I found I 0:03:55.680 --> 0:04:00.160 found that UM I wasn't having much success, and no 0:04:00.280 --> 0:04:03.760 disrespect and no disrespect to the doctors and some of 0:04:03.800 --> 0:04:07.600 the treatments that I've received, not even from the NFL 0:04:07.720 --> 0:04:12.440 in terms of some of the treatments that UM. Probably 0:04:12.560 --> 0:04:15.880 they that definitely did not help UM and probably took 0:04:15.920 --> 0:04:19.919 you down a pathway of of of of issues with it. 0:04:19.960 --> 0:04:24.120 But I'm kind of proud to myself when you're in 0:04:24.160 --> 0:04:28.960 that situation UM too, especially that last seizure. UM. You know, 0:04:29.000 --> 0:04:32.559 I'm coming in it's the fourth day, you're out for 0:04:32.880 --> 0:04:37.039 almost ninety six hours, and the doctors come in and 0:04:37.040 --> 0:04:39.160 they say, hey, you're really a tough guy. You're doing good. 0:04:39.520 --> 0:04:41.880 Keep up with your protocols, keep up with your medicine. 0:04:41.960 --> 0:04:44.920 And I'm like thinking to myself, God, I think this 0:04:45.000 --> 0:04:48.000 is what's killing me. I mean, that's what's in cabining 0:04:48.040 --> 0:04:52.560 me here. Since I retired in UM, I've been on 0:04:52.640 --> 0:04:54.880 four or five high blood pressure fills, three or four 0:04:54.920 --> 0:04:58.280 cholesterol pills, three or four anti information pills. I mean 0:04:58.360 --> 0:05:01.200 starting your day with all most a dozen pills a 0:05:01.320 --> 0:05:06.640 day um, for this entire century before. And that's not 0:05:06.720 --> 0:05:09.960 even counting all the pain medications and sleeping pills and 0:05:10.320 --> 0:05:14.880 depression type medicines that you get going with and you're 0:05:14.920 --> 0:05:18.600 in still an excessive pain, you're not sleeping, and your 0:05:18.600 --> 0:05:23.200 emotional mood swings are really scary. So as a as 0:05:23.240 --> 0:05:26.360 a man suffering through that type stuff, trying to figure 0:05:26.360 --> 0:05:29.279 out and hoping that there was a pathway, some type 0:05:29.279 --> 0:05:32.360 of hope, some type of treatment for me, and I 0:05:32.400 --> 0:05:35.800 wasn't finding much success so myself. But when you're at 0:05:35.920 --> 0:05:39.120 kind of that crossroads, UM, I kind of I went 0:05:39.240 --> 0:05:42.000 down a pathway of myself and trying to find some 0:05:42.080 --> 0:05:46.560 answers myself to UM find my own healing. And I'm 0:05:46.560 --> 0:05:50.760 really proud now to be here, UM almost four and 0:05:50.800 --> 0:05:53.680 a half five years later, UM, to not have been 0:05:53.720 --> 0:05:56.800 having any seizures, to not have to have taken any 0:05:56.839 --> 0:06:01.320 pills or medication pill wise, and almost four years too, 0:06:01.400 --> 0:06:06.200 to have lost a hundred pounds, to be able to articulate, enunciate, 0:06:06.279 --> 0:06:11.360 communicating multiple syllable words is something that UM, it's getting 0:06:11.400 --> 0:06:14.440 it's almost life changing, and it's stuff as you know, 0:06:14.520 --> 0:06:18.280 you and me were talking about that day. UM. As 0:06:18.320 --> 0:06:22.400 older men, UM, you want to have that era of 0:06:22.480 --> 0:06:26.920 always having a game plan, always having the answers, always 0:06:26.960 --> 0:06:30.279 being right, always being in control, always being able to 0:06:30.400 --> 0:06:34.320 lead and help others. But in reality, UM, it's tough 0:06:34.360 --> 0:06:36.880 for us to admit that our bodies are deteriorating. We 0:06:37.000 --> 0:06:40.799 don't have all the answers. UM. Sometimes we need others 0:06:40.839 --> 0:06:44.920 to help us. And when you're able to, UM, maybe 0:06:45.000 --> 0:06:48.520 admit some of your weaknesses, some of your issues. I 0:06:48.640 --> 0:06:51.520 think that's kind of one of the first pathways towards 0:06:51.920 --> 0:06:55.400 maybe getting yourself healing and getting yourself in a better way. 0:06:55.520 --> 0:06:58.720 So one of the things I've been able to I'm 0:06:58.760 --> 0:07:00.920 proud to be able to do. And again it's it's 0:07:01.160 --> 0:07:04.720 You've heard me say, I'm not overly proud sometimes to 0:07:04.800 --> 0:07:07.400 talk about some of those things in my past, but 0:07:07.480 --> 0:07:11.680 I'm really proud about overcoming some of those issues. Even 0:07:11.720 --> 0:07:15.400 if you're Delta bad hand and you're Delta tough situation, somehow, 0:07:15.520 --> 0:07:18.800 some way, the old Jimmy Johnson mine, somehow, some way 0:07:19.040 --> 0:07:22.200 find a way to make a difference, get things better. 0:07:22.240 --> 0:07:26.000 And it started with myself and finding out how I 0:07:26.040 --> 0:07:30.320 could heal myself and proudly to be able to sit 0:07:30.360 --> 0:07:34.360 here and and feel thousand percent better than I did 0:07:34.440 --> 0:07:38.800 multiple years ago. It's almost now a responsibility, I think, 0:07:38.800 --> 0:07:41.240 to talk to some of my other brothers in the 0:07:41.320 --> 0:07:44.600 league that have gone through even more issues than myself 0:07:44.920 --> 0:07:47.280 and show that and let them know that there, hey, 0:07:47.280 --> 0:07:50.400 there is some hope out there. There isn't an opportunity 0:07:50.520 --> 0:07:53.640 to maybe work on yourself from a holistic standpoint, that 0:07:54.120 --> 0:07:56.640 um um that gives you light at the end of 0:07:56.640 --> 0:07:59.360 the tunnel, Well, we'll certainly open up a lot of 0:07:59.360 --> 0:08:01.440 the things you just touched on there. This is not 0:08:01.560 --> 0:08:05.240 a story about weakness, is a story about strength, and 0:08:05.320 --> 0:08:08.120 you have every right to be proud of what you've 0:08:08.120 --> 0:08:10.280 done on so many levels. And the message you can 0:08:10.280 --> 0:08:12.760 deliver to as you call them, your brothers in the NFL, 0:08:12.800 --> 0:08:16.120 will get to all of that stuff, including um, the 0:08:16.200 --> 0:08:18.880 low point, the moment of truth when you had to 0:08:18.920 --> 0:08:21.560 sort of take charge of your own health. But when 0:08:21.600 --> 0:08:25.400 you reeled off Bernie, when you reeled off the hose stats, 0:08:25.440 --> 0:08:29.840 all the injuries, all the surgeries, you said, a hundred concussions, 0:08:29.880 --> 0:08:33.320 you tell me before maybe what fifteen or twenty of 0:08:33.320 --> 0:08:36.440 those have been full knockout concussions, which is which is 0:08:36.440 --> 0:08:39.160 a shocking number. When when when when you reel that off, 0:08:39.200 --> 0:08:42.600 I mean, that's you, that's your body, that's all the 0:08:42.679 --> 0:08:44.920 pain and all the uncertainty, and all the work and 0:08:44.960 --> 0:08:47.640 all the rehab and all the pills. Do you have 0:08:47.720 --> 0:08:50.840 to detach from that? I mean, is that? Does it 0:08:50.960 --> 0:08:53.560 seem real? When you describe what you've been through as 0:08:53.559 --> 0:08:57.080 a result of football? You know what it's almost like 0:08:57.240 --> 0:09:00.880 when you're laying in the hospital bed in a coma 0:09:01.160 --> 0:09:03.880 and you almost still up almost an out of body 0:09:03.960 --> 0:09:08.480 experience to your various stute point, Sometimes you do have 0:09:08.600 --> 0:09:12.559 to detach yourself from the emotion or the pain at 0:09:12.600 --> 0:09:14.560 times of what you're going through. At least I did 0:09:14.920 --> 0:09:18.120 to try to objectively be able to come to an 0:09:18.200 --> 0:09:22.400 understanding and come to an idea of um finding a 0:09:22.480 --> 0:09:27.280 pathway of something that absolutely could be successful or helpful 0:09:27.559 --> 0:09:30.080 for myself. I was absolutely a challenge. But the question 0:09:30.160 --> 0:09:31.959 is why, why why go on? I mean, what you 0:09:32.000 --> 0:09:34.720 were going through that how many times do you contemplate 0:09:36.200 --> 0:09:38.640 ending your career just saying, hey that this is what 0:09:38.720 --> 0:09:42.280 am I doing here? I mean, after after beating, after peating, 0:09:42.280 --> 0:09:45.400 an operation after operation. Obviously you love the game. Growing 0:09:45.440 --> 0:09:48.680 up in Northeast Ohio, Youngstown, it's in your blood. But 0:09:48.760 --> 0:09:52.320 that had to be some some soul searching at some point. Yeah, 0:09:52.320 --> 0:09:55.480 you know the soul searching part as a again, as 0:09:55.480 --> 0:09:58.000 a as a little boy who grew up in Youngstown, Ohio, 0:09:58.120 --> 0:10:02.000 halfway between Cleveland and Pittsburgh, in a in a steel 0:10:02.080 --> 0:10:07.560 industry and manufacturing type town. In the fifties, sixties, early seventies, 0:10:07.600 --> 0:10:11.400 it was one of the greatest places economically to be. Unfortunately, 0:10:11.400 --> 0:10:15.120 by the late seventies and early eighties, the mills and 0:10:15.160 --> 0:10:18.959 the still most the manufacturing jobs dissipated here in our 0:10:19.000 --> 0:10:22.840 country and for sure in our region. So the inability 0:10:22.960 --> 0:10:27.600 for um, a lot of families to have some success um, 0:10:27.640 --> 0:10:31.200 to to maybe better themselves, to go to college, to 0:10:31.240 --> 0:10:34.760 get to grieves, um, to find um your life's work 0:10:35.160 --> 0:10:38.960 was really challenging back then. And sports in young So 0:10:39.000 --> 0:10:42.720 Ohio it was really the only vehicle to help get 0:10:42.760 --> 0:10:46.679 yourself to maybe better yourself slash and are better better 0:10:46.760 --> 0:10:50.920 your family. So UM to play sports UM kind of 0:10:50.960 --> 0:10:53.640 as a way to take care of your family, to 0:10:53.720 --> 0:10:56.600 take care of yourself is really one of the really 0:10:56.840 --> 0:10:59.880 kind of few options you had, so kind of going 0:11:00.160 --> 0:11:03.680 through kind of going through that UM almost forced you 0:11:03.760 --> 0:11:08.400 to do it. And Christially, almost the majority of UM, 0:11:09.320 --> 0:11:12.520 the majority of the surgeries and the majority of what 0:11:12.559 --> 0:11:16.480 you really realize UM of the pain and the challenges 0:11:16.520 --> 0:11:20.080 of it actually wasn't as much when you were playing UM. 0:11:20.120 --> 0:11:23.920 It's the most of the surgeries came post playing UM. 0:11:24.000 --> 0:11:30.719 Most of the UM physical therapy, rehab, pain medications UM 0:11:30.800 --> 0:11:34.440 we're post were post playing days. UM. A lot of 0:11:34.480 --> 0:11:39.000 this I hadn't really UM. A lot of situations where 0:11:39.000 --> 0:11:41.800 some I had some good influences that gave me some 0:11:41.880 --> 0:11:44.599 good advice to plant it, some good seeds as the 0:11:44.760 --> 0:11:47.840 things maybe you should do and something's just as important 0:11:48.240 --> 0:11:50.600 maybe you shouldn't do. So to be able to have 0:11:51.080 --> 0:11:55.840 some good, good direction at times UM, to to start 0:11:55.920 --> 0:11:58.600 at least knowing that you've got to figure out your 0:11:58.640 --> 0:12:01.640 own pathway of a holistic medicine kind of gave me 0:12:01.679 --> 0:12:07.520 the empathus to UM impetus last maybe desperation of laying 0:12:07.600 --> 0:12:12.360 there UM when you're having that last seizure like that yeah, 0:12:12.360 --> 0:12:14.320 I mean, you've gone there now. So let's let's go 0:12:14.400 --> 0:12:17.880 back to the moment that you've described as having your 0:12:17.920 --> 0:12:20.760 your last seizure. We talked earlier you were you know, 0:12:21.960 --> 0:12:24.960 should I change that and say hopefully my last? Yes? Okay, 0:12:24.960 --> 0:12:26.680 well we're gonna call it your last see your most 0:12:26.760 --> 0:12:28.959 recent seizure if you want to be clinically correct here. 0:12:29.000 --> 0:12:32.280 But so listen, you you're you're flying around, you're still active, 0:12:32.320 --> 0:12:34.880 You're you're actually doing some work trying to help the 0:12:34.960 --> 0:12:38.079 NFL understand the concussion issue. You're in o Hare Airport, 0:12:38.679 --> 0:12:42.640 you have this seizure and you said it was, you know, 0:12:42.760 --> 0:12:45.440 four and a half days later you regained consciousness and 0:12:45.480 --> 0:12:48.320 a doctor is saying, hey, let's get back at it. 0:12:48.559 --> 0:12:52.640 Same old, same old, conventional therapy. Keep And you told me, Bernie, 0:12:52.640 --> 0:12:55.800 at that moment you had a realization and that only 0:12:56.000 --> 0:13:02.000 came because during that coma, during that of time, it 0:13:02.120 --> 0:13:04.400 was it was a period of dramatic learning for you, 0:13:04.480 --> 0:13:09.240 which is quite a powerful thing to describe. Yeah, you know, 0:13:09.360 --> 0:13:13.640 as as you're saying that, the the the emotions um 0:13:13.679 --> 0:13:18.000 are really really go through your um. From from that perspective, 0:13:18.160 --> 0:13:22.199 the um when you're when you're laying there. When you're 0:13:22.240 --> 0:13:25.640 laying there in the hospital like that, and you m 0:13:26.280 --> 0:13:29.600 you're in your fourth fourth day and the doct does 0:13:29.720 --> 0:13:32.840 come in and say, keep up with the protocols, keep 0:13:32.920 --> 0:13:35.679 up with the pain medications, keep up up with with 0:13:35.720 --> 0:13:39.760 all that you um, UM, you really have a lot 0:13:39.800 --> 0:13:42.960 of UM. At least myself, I had a lot of 0:13:43.040 --> 0:13:48.000 real almost depressed because you knew, you knew that wasn't 0:13:48.040 --> 0:13:52.160 the pathway, uh to working at it, and you're actually 0:13:52.240 --> 0:13:57.680 really scared because you don't. I hadn't yet attempted to 0:13:57.880 --> 0:14:02.200 do to do um my holistic protocols. I wasn't convinced, 0:14:02.520 --> 0:14:05.760 you know that they were going to work. UM. But 0:14:06.320 --> 0:14:09.360 to see yourself, to be to know you're you're laying 0:14:09.400 --> 0:14:12.600 there in bed yet, to fill your presence, to fill 0:14:12.640 --> 0:14:16.520 your body, your spirit, to not be in in your body, 0:14:16.559 --> 0:14:19.880 and to be kind of almost looking at yourself, UM, 0:14:20.000 --> 0:14:22.400 to have you have decisions to make. And I really 0:14:22.440 --> 0:14:25.240 felt I had decisions that I had to make and 0:14:25.240 --> 0:14:30.080 that I was being almost shown shown some things of 0:14:30.080 --> 0:14:34.520 of what's happening with me, and almost a decision type 0:14:34.720 --> 0:14:40.520 of uh opportunity decision was put in front of me 0:14:40.680 --> 0:14:45.760 that UM you know bluntly was was scary at the time, 0:14:46.120 --> 0:14:50.080 but when you do what I I it was meditating 0:14:50.120 --> 0:14:53.040 and thinking through it, and it almost as you're you're 0:14:53.080 --> 0:14:56.520 asking me now, and as I'm almost kind of put 0:14:56.560 --> 0:15:00.960 myself back in that spot to to see how you 0:15:01.760 --> 0:15:06.240 are almost given a message um U two and the 0:15:06.640 --> 0:15:10.560 message of decision to be made. Um almost coaching you 0:15:10.720 --> 0:15:13.640 up like my old coaches, to show you a pathway 0:15:13.680 --> 0:15:17.520 only only to help myself, but to help others now. 0:15:17.560 --> 0:15:19.440 And when I came out and came out of that 0:15:19.520 --> 0:15:23.680 a coma, it's almost like, um, um, I saw myself 0:15:23.680 --> 0:15:27.120 coming back into my body, UM. And I knew that 0:15:27.240 --> 0:15:30.360 I had this mission, I had this passion, I have 0:15:30.480 --> 0:15:34.640 this responsibility of of of knowledge that UM I wanted 0:15:34.720 --> 0:15:37.760 to go explore. And when the almost at that time, 0:15:38.640 --> 0:15:41.600 the doc comes in and says, hey, keep up with 0:15:41.640 --> 0:15:44.400 those protocols. You're doing good, and it's almost like I was. 0:15:44.840 --> 0:15:48.000 I just had this conversation with myself or was pulled 0:15:48.000 --> 0:15:52.000 that that's not the pathway. And you know I started, um, 0:15:52.040 --> 0:15:54.080 you know, as you and me have been talking, you know, 0:15:54.240 --> 0:15:57.239 off air and stuff. I started going down this holistic 0:15:57.320 --> 0:16:02.240 pathway because the juice, Yeah, V therapy, They let's let's 0:16:02.440 --> 0:16:04.920 let's start with that path because you're you're making it 0:16:05.000 --> 0:16:09.080 aparture a decision that stepping away from conventional medicine. We 0:16:09.160 --> 0:16:12.040 all have to trust doctors to varying degrees in our life, 0:16:12.320 --> 0:16:15.120 but you trusted yourself more. You trusted the voice that 0:16:15.200 --> 0:16:18.120 came to you. So you launch into something which is exciting. 0:16:18.760 --> 0:16:22.360 It could be energizing, but also because it's uncertain, it 0:16:22.400 --> 0:16:25.040 could be a little scary. What were those first steps 0:16:25.080 --> 0:16:27.880 like when you tried to figure out what can I do? 0:16:28.480 --> 0:16:32.880 That's quote unquote holistic, not f d a proof, not 0:16:33.680 --> 0:16:35.880 tried and true, but feels right to me. What were 0:16:35.880 --> 0:16:38.120 the first steps when I was laying in that hospital, 0:16:38.240 --> 0:16:41.360 but there I knew that the NFL and the old 0:16:41.400 --> 0:16:43.920 teams I played for, they aren't going to help us. 0:16:43.960 --> 0:16:46.120 And this is not to pick on the league, it's 0:16:46.120 --> 0:16:48.920 not to pick on my old team and something. But 0:16:49.440 --> 0:16:52.880 the realization that they aren't going to help and that 0:16:53.040 --> 0:16:55.600 I'm going to die and I think I just died 0:16:55.640 --> 0:16:58.040 a couple of days earlier, that if I don't figure 0:16:58.080 --> 0:17:00.560 this out, if I don't take it into my own hands, 0:17:00.600 --> 0:17:04.840 and that kind of um UM, that kind of decision 0:17:05.000 --> 0:17:08.080 that was almost freeing of me, because there is parts 0:17:08.119 --> 0:17:11.760 of us as players, as older guys that want to 0:17:11.880 --> 0:17:14.600 be helped. You know, we say we want to do 0:17:14.640 --> 0:17:17.440 it ourselves. We are kind of looking for help, We're 0:17:17.480 --> 0:17:21.240 looking for direction. We're looking for the team, the league, 0:17:21.280 --> 0:17:25.760 the docs to give us that answer, UM, to really 0:17:25.800 --> 0:17:29.440 relieve us from the pain, the uncertainty, the damage that's 0:17:29.480 --> 0:17:35.680 going on within us. UM during that last tacoma, that 0:17:35.880 --> 0:17:39.000 was the real realization that that wasn't gonna happen. And 0:17:39.040 --> 0:17:41.960 I don't harbor any animosity towards any of the people 0:17:41.960 --> 0:17:44.600 I was just talking about. I just knew that for 0:17:44.640 --> 0:17:47.800 me to be healthy, to be alive, to to have 0:17:48.040 --> 0:17:52.040 a positive difference in people's lives and my own children's lives, 0:17:52.080 --> 0:17:54.480 to be there to walk my daughters down the aisle, 0:17:54.880 --> 0:17:57.480 I needed to make a concerted change and I needed 0:17:57.520 --> 0:18:01.840 to figure uh figure this out. And that's when I 0:18:02.000 --> 0:18:05.560 really um knew that I had to had to find 0:18:05.600 --> 0:18:09.120 this and that's when I organically, UM from an organic 0:18:09.160 --> 0:18:14.680 wellness standpoint, UM, made this life changing decisions. You talked, 0:18:14.920 --> 0:18:18.080 you've listed food as being a key component. Food is 0:18:18.119 --> 0:18:21.440 your medicine. You mentioned I V used I V therapy 0:18:21.520 --> 0:18:24.879 for vitamins because it's more efficient than pills. You also 0:18:24.960 --> 0:18:29.119 found something called Rick Simpson oil sometimes known as R 0:18:29.320 --> 0:18:32.320 s O. Folks can search it. It's a cannabinoid oil. 0:18:32.359 --> 0:18:35.280 It's a it's a full spectrum extract. It's powerful, it 0:18:35.280 --> 0:18:39.680 has high th HC. What role did that oil play 0:18:39.680 --> 0:18:42.120 on you? Because claims have been made that including by 0:18:42.160 --> 0:18:44.760 the creator of it, that it cured his cancer. It's 0:18:44.840 --> 0:18:48.240 it's not an approved um therapy by a lot of 0:18:48.280 --> 0:18:50.800 conventional medicine, and people should do their own research. But 0:18:50.880 --> 0:18:53.040 what effect did it have on you? Bernie? What role 0:18:53.200 --> 0:18:59.240 did did did R s O play in your recovery? Well? You, uh, Chris, 0:18:59.680 --> 0:19:02.760 one of the one of the things that's um um 0:19:02.880 --> 0:19:06.239 the food is your medicine. As a inbred Slovak who 0:19:06.320 --> 0:19:09.960 grew up on cabasi and parogis for breakfast, that is 0:19:09.960 --> 0:19:14.560 not the breakfast the champions. Okay, so um and I 0:19:14.640 --> 0:19:16.960 love my mother and I love my heritage and they're 0:19:17.000 --> 0:19:20.520 the best cooks in the world. But um for long 0:19:20.640 --> 0:19:24.600 term living and to make it past retirement age, Okay, 0:19:24.640 --> 0:19:28.080 I had to find another another way of eating. So yeah, 0:19:28.119 --> 0:19:33.280 I became a big juicer um, water based, vegetable based 0:19:33.800 --> 0:19:37.400 um as absolutely as you astuteley said, food is your medicine, 0:19:37.600 --> 0:19:41.159 and then IVY therapy as has been a major influence 0:19:41.200 --> 0:19:44.720 for me. If if we take a vitamin A supplement, 0:19:44.840 --> 0:19:48.280 a pill eight to twelve absorbed into the cell and 0:19:48.320 --> 0:19:52.600 cell membrane from an IVY component. UM, I know, none 0:19:52.680 --> 0:19:54.879 of us, like needles, we all say we don't want 0:19:54.920 --> 0:19:58.639 to do that, but from an IVY perspective, UM, me 0:19:58.680 --> 0:20:00.360 and you are old enough to have said, we grew 0:20:00.440 --> 0:20:03.520 up on hearing the commercial one a day vitamin. Like 0:20:03.520 --> 0:20:07.000 we said, that absorbed into your cell and cell membrane. 0:20:07.320 --> 0:20:10.639 But basically those components of the one a day vitamin, 0:20:10.640 --> 0:20:15.280 the vitamin sees the magnesiums, the zincs to be complexes. 0:20:15.840 --> 0:20:20.360 You're optimizing your d levels of that gets into your 0:20:20.680 --> 0:20:23.480 your bloodstream when you do it from an IVY perspective, 0:20:23.480 --> 0:20:27.640 so those are the two very important components of it. 0:20:28.200 --> 0:20:31.679 But after all those years, uh, and I say this, 0:20:31.840 --> 0:20:35.480 since two thousand and eighteen, really this whole century, mom 0:20:35.720 --> 0:20:40.359 third decade of doing way too much medication. The food 0:20:40.440 --> 0:20:45.200 is your medicine, deducing the IVY therapy and then um, 0:20:45.359 --> 0:20:51.000 the the Rick Simpson oil UM and from the cannabis 0:20:51.520 --> 0:20:55.320 CBD th C component of it, there there is a 0:20:55.440 --> 0:21:00.840 real I believe at least a real medicinal realdinal anti 0:21:00.880 --> 0:21:06.720 inflammation principles that happened in the CBD cannabis world, and 0:21:07.160 --> 0:21:11.760 that of building the combination of those three in Christian medicine, 0:21:12.200 --> 0:21:16.760 the Rick Simpson oil and RSO UM which Rick Simpson 0:21:16.920 --> 0:21:20.919 was a man who had cancer UM who instead of 0:21:20.920 --> 0:21:23.680 doing chemotherapy he went down the whole list of path 0:21:23.800 --> 0:21:27.160 of doing that and found amazing results with that. I'm 0:21:27.160 --> 0:21:32.159 not here today making UM doctor claims from that standpoint, 0:21:32.280 --> 0:21:36.919 but it's also Chris was UM the the RSO the 0:21:37.000 --> 0:21:42.480 medicinal benefits of being able to take people that are 0:21:43.080 --> 0:21:47.040 UM doing too many pills, whether again with all the 0:21:47.040 --> 0:21:52.840 pain medications, depression type medicines UM UM sleeping type medicines 0:21:52.880 --> 0:21:55.239 that really weren't working. I was still in pain and 0:21:55.359 --> 0:21:59.440 still not sleeping. To be able to get yourself off 0:21:59.480 --> 0:22:03.600 of that with UM food I V S and then 0:22:03.640 --> 0:22:08.800 are the the RSO the oil from the medicinal standpoint, UM, 0:22:08.800 --> 0:22:12.360 it was absolutely game changing for me and for me 0:22:12.440 --> 0:22:16.639 then to be able then to from a UM UM 0:22:16.920 --> 0:22:20.960 work or chemistry standpoint, be able now to break up 0:22:21.480 --> 0:22:24.800 UM in a couple of a couple of the research 0:22:24.880 --> 0:22:27.439 people I work with, to be able not to break 0:22:27.480 --> 0:22:32.560 out the UM psychoactivity and some of the UH and 0:22:32.680 --> 0:22:36.480 some of the canniboids absolutely being game changing now to 0:22:36.520 --> 0:22:40.400 be able to medicinely heal UM people. And it's absolutely 0:22:40.440 --> 0:22:44.240 healed myself, and it was I've been paying attention to 0:22:44.440 --> 0:22:50.840 this UM probably for half dozen years. I started it 0:22:50.920 --> 0:22:54.720 myself four and a half years ago, and the combination 0:22:54.840 --> 0:22:58.080 of all of that has been so game changing to me. 0:22:58.280 --> 0:23:01.600 Besides UM losing go over a hundred pounds and and 0:23:01.680 --> 0:23:05.439 slowing down at least, the deterioration and the inability to 0:23:06.160 --> 0:23:12.000 articulate and enunciate communicate from from the predimensia standpoint has 0:23:12.160 --> 0:23:15.840 really been game changing, game changing with that yeh, Tobacca, 0:23:15.920 --> 0:23:18.480 you said it quickly, but that what a terrifying thing 0:23:18.480 --> 0:23:20.879 when when doctors say you have about five years left 0:23:21.400 --> 0:23:26.120 of cognitive ability predimensia early onset Parkinson's. I mean, these 0:23:26.119 --> 0:23:29.720 are all things right that that you were facing that 0:23:29.840 --> 0:23:34.320 you have halted and dramatically reverse in a pretty short 0:23:34.400 --> 0:23:37.680 amount of time, Bernie, I mean that's it's pretty breathtaking 0:23:37.720 --> 0:23:41.440 and you should be incredibly proud of that. Well, thanks, Chris. 0:23:41.520 --> 0:23:47.200 If even from the articulation communication, ability to enunciate words 0:23:47.280 --> 0:23:50.520 just bluntly remembering that you and me are what we're 0:23:50.560 --> 0:23:53.960 talking about, being able to stay on task and to 0:23:54.119 --> 0:23:56.400 make points. If you and may would have been doing 0:23:56.480 --> 0:23:59.680 this conversation or been on the sidelines of a UM 0:23:59.760 --> 0:24:03.200 game five years ago, it would have been a brief conversation. 0:24:03.280 --> 0:24:06.359 I'm not sure you would have even wanted me to 0:24:06.359 --> 0:24:09.800 to um UM to be on one of your telecasts 0:24:09.840 --> 0:24:15.480 like that. You know, pain killers are constant companions of athletes, 0:24:15.680 --> 0:24:21.080 particularly football players at different levels. You talked about having 0:24:21.240 --> 0:24:24.120 takes so many daily pills. How would you describe Bernie 0:24:24.119 --> 0:24:27.720 your relationship with I mean, these are powerful pain killers, OPI. 0:24:27.800 --> 0:24:30.480 It's how how at the lowest point, where were you 0:24:30.520 --> 0:24:34.920 with those Well, from a from a standpoint of if 0:24:34.920 --> 0:24:38.760 you just go back to the late nineties, early two thousands, 0:24:39.880 --> 0:24:43.480